Mars Rock Screams on Twitter as NASA Blasts it With a Laser

Read the increasingly desperate tweets of Martian rock N165 as it is zapped by Curiosity

"Poor little N165. It never really had a chance. As soon as the Curiosity rover warmed up its rock-vaporizing laser, it was certain to be used as target practice. But thanks to the miracle of social media, that Martian rock has a voice, and it's not happy."

@N165Mars (the first of many Mars rocks to twitter)

Keith's note: N165 isn't alone. NASA has attacked helpless Mars rocks before. Curiosity and Spirit ground holes in lots of them. Ray (a NASA Watch reader) and I were both reminded of a historical precedent, of sorts: the 1967 attack on a Horta by Kirk and Spock. If you will rceall the Horta was associated with small round mineralized spheres (like super-sized Mars "blueberries") that were its eggs. They may look like plain old rocks to us. I'm just sayin' ...

NASA Curiosity Rover's Laser Instrument Zaps First Martian Rock

"Today, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity fired its laser for the first time on Mars, using the beam from a science instrument to interrogate a fist-size rock called "Coronation."

Keith's update: Looks like they changed N165's name.

Photo: First Laser-Zapped Rock on Mars